Bee apiary: how to start breeding at home, how to start and care, training from a to z

Cultivation of honey bees is considered to be a very painstaking process. Many people believe that this is a simple and promising activity that requires a minimum investment of time and money. In fact, it is important to carefully prepare for the creation of a bee apiary, to study the features of the life of insects and get an idea about caring for them. Equally important is the calculation of income and expenses.

Is beekeeping right for you?

Before starting beekeeping from scratch, it is important for each person to understand whether this type of activity is suitable for him. Like other types of business, this area of \u200b\u200bactivity requires investment. In addition, a real beekeeper should be distinguished by the following qualities:

1. Stamina and physical strength. Work involves high loads.
2. Responsibility. The he alth of the bees needs to be carefully monitored.
3. Good he alth. The main ban on this type of activity is considered an allergy to bee venom.

Before breeding bees, you need to get at least a minimum of knowledge about the life of insects. To do this, you should use training aids and materials. If possible, it is recommended to contact knowledgeable beekeepers.

Choosing a place for the future apiary

The success of breeding bees depends on the correctness of the chosen place. The closer the apiary is to the fields with honey plants, the more honey you can get. Because beekeeping is more suitable for rural areas.

It is impossible to engage in this type of activity at home in the city.Of course, for the period of honey collection, the hives can be taken out and placed in the fields. However, this option has a number of disadvantages. It requires the cost of transportation and placement in the fields. In addition, it is almost impossible to pump honey in the field. In this case, you will need to build a tent or wooden house.

When choosing a place for an apiary, you need to take into account that in the summer you will have to live near the apiary. At this time, she needs daily monitoring. An excellent solution would be the courtyard of a private house, which is located near the fields. During the honey harvest, the presence of the following crops is relevant:

• acacia;
• linden;
• buckwheat;
• sunflower;
• mint;
• melilot;
• alfalfa.

There are also many other plants that are excellent honey crops. However, these herbs are considered the most productive.

Preparation and placement of hives

Beekeeping without experience is difficult. An important nuance in this matter is the correct grouping of hives. For 1 bee colony, up to 40 square meters are required. Hives are required to line up in rows - in groups of 2 or 4 houses. It is also permissible to arrange them in a checkerboard pattern, which makes it possible to save space.

When placing houses in the apiary, you should adhere to the following parameters:

• interval 3-4 meters between hives;
• at least 10 meters to farm boundaries;
• 50 meters from residential buildings;
• minimum distance of 4-7 meters if there are multiple rows.

Hives for bees can be purchased ready-made or made by hand. The most suitable option is a sunbed. This design is perfectly visible, and therefore novice beekeepers will be able to control the development of the family.

Each beehive is required to be placed on a special stand or stakes. Houses should be removed from the surface of the earth by 30-40 centimeters. If it is not possible to place beehives in the shade of trees, it is recommended to plant tall plants near them - sunflower or corn. Letkas of houses should be directed to the sunny side - to the south or to the east.

So that insects can easily find their home, the hives should be painted in different shades. Bees are good at distinguishing yellow, blue, white colors.

In order to ensure comfortable placement of insects in the hives, they must meet certain requirements. These include the following:

1. Correct design. In winter, the hive should retain heat, and in summer it should not get too hot. The walls of the house should be protected from precipitation, wind, temperature fluctuations. Recommended wall thickness is at least 3 cm.
2. The size of the house. The hive should be spacious enough. It is important that both the brood and the stocks of honey and bee bread fit inside.
3. Access to content. It is important that the hive is easy to disassemble and assemble. This helps to control the supply of honey and clean the contents of the hive. To facilitate the assembly process, the fragments of the house should have the same size.

Proper placement of hives on the site ensures high productivity of bees and rapid development of families. It also helps to avoid the intersection of different bee colonies. Thanks to this, it is possible to minimize the risk of hostility and theft in the apiary.

There are several options for arranging bee hives:

• private;
• group;
• chess.

The ordinary option is most often used when maintaining large apiaries or a sufficient amount of free space.It is also used for nomadic hives. In this case, the bee houses are placed on the site in even rows, making intervals of 4 meters. At the same time, it is recommended that young families be located as close as possible to honey plants.

The most popular method is the group method. It helps to create suitable conditions for bees, regardless of the size of the apiary, and simplifies their care. The method involves the installation of bee houses in groups of 5-6 pieces. In this case, it is worth observing a distance of 50 centimeters. A protective strip of 4-6 meters in size is created between each of the groups.

When there is a shortage of free space, a chess arrangement is considered the most suitable option. In addition to saving free space, this method helps protect the apiary from harsh winds and drafts. In this case, the beekeeping is distinguished by the shape of a regular rectangle or square. However, if necessary, it can be placed in a semicircle or triangle.In this case, the interval between bee hives should be at least 4 meters.

Selection and purchase of bees

To do beekeeping, it is important to choose the right bees. It is recommended to buy insects exclusively from professional beekeepers. However, they must have a veterinary passport. Of no small importance is the purchase of insects in the same region in which it is planned to keep the apiary. The reputation of the breeder is of great importance.

To successfully start bees, you need to give preference to species that are more adapted to local conditions and are not afraid of disease. The following should be taken into account:

1. Central Russian bees are suitable for the central regions, Siberia, the Urals. The disadvantage of this variety is the aggressiveness of insects.
2. For beginners, the Transcarpathian breed, which has a peaceful character, is perfect.
3. An excellent solution would be gray mountain Caucasian bees, which are bred in the Southern and Volga districts, as well as in the center of Russia. The advantage of this breed is that its representatives are able to find honey in hard-to-reach places.
4. Ukrainian and Italian bees are very popular for breeding in Russia.

For a small apiary, a few bee colonies that survived the winter will be enough for beginners. When choosing each of them, it is worth paying close attention to the uterus. The queen bee is easy to find as it is larger than other insects. There should be no mechanical damage on the body of the uterus. In this case, the brood should be placed in its cell with a minimum of gaps. Other bees must also be he althy, with intact wings and free of external defects.

Inventory for a beginner beekeeper

At the stage of learning beekeeping, it is important to familiarize yourself with the necessary equipment. So, beekeepers need the following:

1. Protective suit - any dense clothing that cannot be penetrated by a bee sting can perform its functions. The arms and legs should complement the cuffs. Equally important is the presence of light, but dense shoes.
2. Mask - it is usually sewn to the costume. The special beekeeping mask has a special design. Due to this, the back of the head is covered with dense fabric. The mesh should cover the face, but not adjacent to it. Special metal rings help position the mesh at some distance from the face.
3. Gloves - For beginners who are wary of bees, tight but comfortable gloves are suitable. Frames are recommended to be taken as carefully as possible. Experienced beekeepers often work without gloves, because they know that the bees will not sting just like that. Aggression appears only in the event of an accidental crushing of an insect.
4. Chisel - with this device it is possible to remove ceiling planks that are glued together with honey.
5. Smoke - usually used if the bees do not have a bribe, are anxious or aggressively protect honey.
6. Carrying - taking out the honey frames, the bees are crushed into the hive. Then they are placed in a special carrier. In fact, it is an ordinary box, which is covered with a piece of tarpaulin on top. After collecting the required number of frames, they are carried with the help of a carrier to the location of the honey extractor - a house, a basement or a kitchen.
7. Knife - the wax that covers the honeycombs needs to be cut off. To do this, use a special knife. With its help, it will be possible to carefully cut off the caps, which are called zabrus. The tool must first be moistened in hot water.
8. Fork - it is far from always possible to carefully remove the cast with a knife. In this case, it is permissible to use a special fork with many thin teeth. They are used to pry off the zabrus to tear it away from the honeycomb.
9. Honey extractor - this is the name of the barrel in which frames with honey are placed.In fact, it is a centrifuge that spins the frame. Then honey comes out of them. It hits the walls of the barrel, and then flows down. Near the bottom there is a tap through which honey flows from the barrels. There are many honey extractors on the market today. They are manual or electric. A simple and inexpensive design is suitable for a beginner.
10. Food cans - required for storing and transporting honey.

Collection and processing of honey

If you breed bees, it is important to familiarize yourself with the main rules for collecting and processing honey products. After collecting honey, insects cover it with special wax caps that do not allow air to pass through. The product is isolated from the external environment and retains a maximum of useful properties.

Only fully sealed honey is allowed to be collected. If you do this during the honey collection of bees, there is a risk of obtaining a low-quality product with a high water content.

It is worth considering that every bee colony should have an emergency supply of honey. Its amount is approximately 5 kilograms. With the onset of the period of productive bribes, the bees are given frames with foundation in which they will put honey. After its ripening, the frames are removed.

It's important to do it right. In this case, it is recommended to take into account the following recommendations:

• put on a protective suit;
• pull one frame out of the hive;
• carefully shake off the bees, driving them away with smoke;
• get honey when all the bees leave the frame;
• pump out the product on the honey extractor until it has cooled down.

After pumping out, honey needs to be filtered, cleaned of fragments of propolis, honeycombs and larvae. After that, the product should be left to brew. This is especially true for honey that is too wet.A quality product contains 18-21% water. With more, the shelf life is reduced.

Honey should ripen in a dry and warm place. It is important that the room has good ventilation. The product needs to be stirred systematically to reach the desired level of consistency.

Wintering features

In order for the bees to survive the winter, it is worth studying the corresponding lessons. Some breeds have to spend the winter in special houses called omshaniki. They can be made with your own hands, given the size of the bee colony. Such structures are required by the Ukrainian steppe, yellow, Caucasian, Carpathian breed. At the same time, Central Russian bees may well overwinter in outdoor hives. However, they need to provide suitable conditions.

Keeping bees in the winter hut is characterized by the following advantages:

• feed less;
• increasing the life of the hive;
• no risk of death of bees due to temperature fluctuations.

Pests and diseases

The maintenance of bees is often accompanied by various problems. These include the development of diseases and the attack of pests. For bees, hornets, wasps, mice, ants, and spiders are a real danger. To deal with pests, you should do the following:

• destroy nests and burrows;
• set traps for hornets and wasps;
• transplant to new hives when bees are infected with wax moth.

Diseases of bees are divided into 2 categories - contagious and non-contagious. The first group includes acarapitosis, nosematosis, American foulbrood. These pathologies are associated with the infection of bees with dangerous pathogens. Non-contagious diseases of bees develop as a result of violation of the rules of keeping and use of low-quality feed.

Income and expenses

To start beekeeping, you need to analyze all costs and income in advance. This is considered the fundamentals of doing business. For 20 colonies, the estimated cost would be $3,700 in the first year. That is how much money will be needed to purchase bees, tools, inventory, equip hives and other premises.

With proper construction of the apiary in the first year, it will be possible to collect 1200-1500 kilograms of beekeeping products - honey, wax, propolis. The profit from this will be about 4600 dollars. Thus, it will be possible to recoup the apiary in the first season. At the same time, profits will increase every year.

Rookie Mistakes

In order for the apiary to be successful, it is important to follow the advice of experienced beekeepers. At the same time, beginners usually make the following mistakes:

1. Neglect regular hive inspections. This needs to be done at least 3 times a week. During the swarming period, it is important to inspect the bee houses every day.
2. Can't handle swarms. It is important to control the bees so that they do not run away.
3. Want to get the maximum honey yield. To do this, beginner beekeepers feed bees with sugar syrup. This results in honey of dubious quality. As a result, beekeepers are losing their customers.

Organization of a bee apiary has a number of features. Compliance with the basic rules for breeding bees helps to achieve good success in this business and get a good income from such activities.

Recommended